


Wings

by DivineEli3



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-05-31 00:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15107522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DivineEli3/pseuds/DivineEli3
Summary: Returning to her hometown after a seven and half year long mission was something that Kazuma Sarutobi had been looking forward to, and now that she's back, she's excited to reunite with her family and friends and meet new ones as well! What adventures await the young Sarutobi, and what did she learn on her mission through the Five Great Shinobi Nations?





	1. Character Information: Kazuma Sarutobi

Name: “Tsubasa” Kazuma Sarutobi

Age: 16   

Height: 5’5” (165 cm)   

Weight: 57 kg (125 lbs.)   

DOB: October 18  

Blood Type: AB     

Physical Appearance: Medium-length curly chocolate brown hair, black eyes, fair-skinned, heart shaped birthmark at the back of neck, Sarutobi clan symbol above the navel (only revealed when willed to be by Kazuma)

Ninja Outfit: Flak jacket, black tank top under an off-the-shoulder midnight blue crop top, bandages wrapped around elbows and knees, no-finger leather gloves, black mid-thigh shorts with kunai pouches, black ankle-high combat boots, Konohagakure forehead protector (around forehead)

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Rank: Jonin

Weapons: Kunais, senbons, twin black dragon katanas, shuriken, fuma shuriken

Nature Type: All basic natures mastered (Wind is the main)

Kekkei Genkai: Revealed Later

Family: Hiruzen Sarutobi (Grandfather), Biwako Sarutobi (Grandmother), Asuma Sarutobi (Uncle), Konohamaru Sarutobi (Little Brother)

Personality: Kind, caring, intelligent, protective, creative, tough, funny/playful, trusting, confident, helpful, patient

Hobbies: Training, cooking/baking, watching the clouds/sunset/stars, eating, reading, writing, traveling, going on missions


	2. 1- Enter: Kazuma Sarutobi

Home is where the heart is, as they say, and for Kazuma Sarutobi, it was indefinitely true. At long last, she was finally home at Konohagakure. She had thought she would never see her village again, and while traveling around the Five Great Shinobi Nations was fun, she knew that nothing could compare to where she was born and raised.

At the age of nine, Kazuma was sent on a mission to travel through the Five Shinobi Nations and become affiliated as well as train with the ninja that were stationed there. It was an unusual mission to be sent on in the first place. She had been skeptical, mainly because she was still a young kunoichi who had much to learn, but that was the main reason her grandfather sent her on it. Additionally, she didn’t want to leave behind her younger brother Konohamaru, who was one at the time she left the village.

Nevertheless, her seven and a half years of traveling, training, and learning paid off in the end as she became a Jonin by the time she was fourteen years old. Perks to her mission included making multiple new friends, learning new techniques, and achieving better relations with the other shinobi villages. Along with visiting the main five villages, she stayed for some time at the smaller lands as well, wanting to study and become acquainted with what she wasn’t familiar of.        

It wasn’t an easy mission for her, and she was homesick a lot. She persisted though, knowing that she would only be sent back out of her village by her grandfather, the current Hokage, to complete her task. What made everything better for her though were the letters from her friends and family, and she was most grateful for the notes sent from her little brother. Despite leaving him at such a young age, he didn’t blame her and was rather happy for her instead, and through the notes, they became closer, and the distance didn’t even matter.

Now though, it seemed as if it was all a dream as she walked towards the gate of Konoha. The sun was shining down on her figure, and she was grateful that she was wearing a straw rice hat to block it out. The wind rustled the leaves of the trees that she passed by, blowing the sides of her tan cloak away from her, and she stops for a minute to revel in the breeze. Her black eyes gaze straight at the entrance of her village, and her heart starts pounding a bit faster.

She wasn’t nervous. She was more excited than anything, but she couldn’t help feeling a little bit anxious for what was going to happen when she arrived. Will her friends recognize her? Will her family? Will anyone? She shook those thoughts out of her head and started walking with more purpose in her stride, her curly brown hair and cloak flowing behind her. Now wasn’t the time to have doubts, she wanted to see her people again.

Guarding the gates were shinobis Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, and Kazuma smiled at the sight of the two, happy to see faces that she knew. The duo spot her as well, but due to the hat obscuring their view of her face, they stood their ground with stern faces.

“Don’t proceed any further. State your name and business with our village.” Izumo spoke, being as serious as ever, and while Kazume was a bit disappointed that they didn’t recognize her, she knew it was mainly because of the hat she was wearing.

“Sarutobi Kazuma, and I’m here on return from a mission. Nice to know that I have such a warm welcome after almost eight years of absence.” She states her name and business as asked but sarcastically commenting as well on the greeting she received, and she lifts her hat up a bit and tilts her head back to look up at the taller individuals in front of her, who proceed to widen their eyes and drop their jaws at the sight of the young girl.

“Kazu-chan! You’re back, and you’re so grown up! Who would’ve thought?” Kotetsu exclaims in a joking manner as he starts to laugh, but he moves in on her with arms stretched out for a hug. He is stopped however by his partner, who still looks at the girl with caution in his dark eyes.

“How do we know if it is truly Kazuma? Show us some proof.” Izumo speaks in a skeptic tone, and both Kotetsu and Kazuma were a bit taken aback. However, Kazuma grinned at his command, liking how he was taking authority and ensuring the safety of the village.

Nodding in confirmation to the request, she pulls back her cloak to reveal her full body, which was clad in a flak jacket, black tank top under an off-the-shoulder midnight blue crop top, some white bandages wrapped around her elbows and knees, no-finger leather gloves on her hands, black mid-thigh shorts with kunai pouches, and black ankle-high combat boots. Before leaving the village on her mission, her grandfather arranged for her to get a marking on her body that would show it was her. Lifting up the black tank top underneath her midnight blue crop top, she revealed her stomach, and within a few seconds, the Sarutobi Clan symbol appeared just above her navel. At the sight of that, Izumo nodded and turned his head away from her with a tint of red on his cheeks, and Kotetsu laughs at him.

“Are you actually embarrassed? You told her to show you proof that it was her!” Kotetsu continues to cackle at his friend, and Kazuma starts to giggle as well after putting her shirt down.

Once Izumo and Kotetsu calmed down, they let Kazuma into the village with a promise to hang out with each other later. Now inside the village, Kazuma set on to explore her hometown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: First chapter, and a fairly short one. They'll get longer as the story goes. No worries. 


	3. 2 - A Dangerous Mission! Journey to the Land of Waves! (P.1)

Walking through the streets of Konoha, Kazuma sees the changes that occured in the time she was gone, and while she was a bit sad to see some of the places where she made memories go, she was excited to explore the new buildings and streets. As she kept looking around the area, she felt eyes looking at her from time to time, and she knew it was because she was a new presence in the village. Oh how wrong they were for thinking that.

She eventually stopped at the one place that had been there for her since the beginning, a place that she always held dear in her heart and would forever be grateful to - Ramen Ichiraku. She entered the establishment and took a seat, and almost immediately, she is attended to by the owner’s daughter Ayame who greets the young girl with a smile.

“Good morning! What can I get for you today?”

“Spicy seafood ramen with extra seaweed please, and may I just say that it’s nice to see you again, Ayame-san?” Kazuma tilts her hat up again and grins at the older female who in turn squeals at the sudden appearance of a former regular.

“Kazu-chan! You’ve come back! Oto-san, Kazu-chan is back!” She yells for her father Teuchi, and he in turn spots Kazuma and hollers a laugh so loud it almost shakes the building, making the other patrons gaze at him in bewilderment.

“It’s the young Kazuma, welcome back! I’ve missed making you your usual, so this one is on the house.” The owner of the shop smiles wide and goes to make the food before the kunoichi could refuse, and Ayame just giggles as Kazuma groans.

“He’s as lively as ever I see.”

Ayame and Kazuma chat for a bit more before Ayame left to attend to the other customers, and soon, Kazuma received her beautiful bowl of steaming hot ramen and nodded her thanks to the owner before devouring the food with vigor. She finishes the bowl in record time and bids Teuchi and his daughter goodbye, now heading over to the Mission Assignment Desk at the Ninja Academy for a report in.

Kazuma arrived, but unfortunately, the doors were closed with a grey-haired man wearing glasses, a pointed hat, a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, pants, and a pair of sandals. For some reason, the man seems familiar to the young kunoichi, so she approaches him for a better look. He looks over to her and blinks a few times as if in astonishment.

“Kazuma?”

Finally, the girl recognized the man as Tazuna, a bridge builder from the Land of Waves and a man she had met early on in her mission. She was shocked to say the least that he had remembered her but was ecstatic nonetheless.

“Tazuna-san! I’m glad you recognized me!”

“Ha, of course I did! I wouldn’t forget a brat like you!”

Despite the apparent insult, Kazuma just grins in delight, and Tazuna laughs in enjoyment at seeing the young girl again and takes a swig of his drink. The young girl had really helped Tazuna and his family through some rough times, and they were upset at the inevitable separation. The reunion was a highlight for both parties. Before they could continue talking, a voice talks at the door.

“Could you please come in?”

Tazuna knew it was meant for him, so he slides the door open with drink in hand and seems a bit bewildered at the sight before him, prompting him to ask a question out loud.

“What’s this? It’s just a bunch of darned squirts!”

The comment almost made Kazuma cackle, but she held it in, wanting to hear the response from the persons on the other side of the door. Tazuna takes another big gulp of his drink and leans against the frame of the door, exclaiming something that had Kazuma almost break out laughing again.

“Particularly you, the smallest one with the idiot face. Are you really a ninja?”

Kazuma hears a boyish laugh from the inside of the room, and the laugh stops as the person asks a question.

“Who's the smallest one with the idiot face he’s talking about? What?”

There were a few seconds of silence before the boy lashes out with an ‘I’ll kill you’ to Tazuna, and Kazuma figured that the boy was being held back by someone to stop him from attacking the old man.

“What good will it do to kill the old man you’re supposed to be guarding, you moron?!”

A manlier voice speaks, and it was a voice that the young Sarutobi was all too familiar with and one that she missed very much. Tazuna finishes another sip of his drink and finally introduces himself.

“I’m Tazuna, veteran bridge builder. You’ll be risking life and limb in guarding me to the max until I return to my land and complete my bridge!”

He speaks out, and Kazuma almost applauds him for finally sounding like someone who wasn’t a rude drunkard.

“However . . .”

The bridge builder turns toward the Hokage and points his thumb to the open door.

“Why can’t I just have the little missy back here guard me instead?”

At that, Kazuma finally steps into the room and stands next to the old man, adjusting her hat back to reveal her face to the people.

“Jiji, I thought you would’ve told the guards at the gate I was coming, or did you forget about your own granddaughter’s arrival?”

There were another few moments of silence as the words sank in, and the first one to speak was the blond-haired and orange clad ninja.

“GRANDDAUGHTER?!”

The young Sarutobi laughs out loud and responds to the boy with earnest.

“Yup, I’m the Hokage’s granddaughter, Sarutobi Kazuma! Nice to meet you, Uzumaki Naruto. My brother Konohamaru has told me a lot about you, thank you for being his friend. You’re much cuter than I imagined.” Kazuma adds a small wink at the end of her statement, and Naruto just stutters and a pink color just floods his face, looking as if he was about to implode.

“That’s enough, Kazuma. I believe you’ve teased Naruto enough.” The one to speak was Naruto’s instructor Kakashi Hatake, a man whose face had never been seen before but was still distinguishable due to his gravity-defying grey hair.

Kazuma just sticks her tongue out at Kakashi, and he just raised an eyebrow at her defiant behavior. She turns away and faces her grandfather to address Tazuna’s request.

“I would rather not take away a mission from this team of genin, but if you would like me to accompany them, I will do so.”

The Hokage contemplates it, but Naruto and his former teacher, Iruka Umino start arguing about it.

“I can handle the mission, especially if it’s just guarding some drunk old man!”

“Sir, while I am still against the idea of giving them a C-Rank mission, I don’t believe that adding Kazuma-san who has just come back would do much good.”

“Both of you, silence!” The Hokage commands, and each shut up at that instant, Naruto still grumbling off to the side.

“I’ll allow her to accompany Team 7 on their mission, but I am letting the decision fall on my granddaughter.” He sets his gaze on her, and everyone else do so as well.

She looks up to the ceiling, thinking about it, and then all of a sudden, she claps her gloved hands together. A cloud of smoke surrounds her figure, and a wind goes through the room, some papers flying off the assignment desk. When the smoke cleared, she was still at the same spot, but her cloak was gone, replaced by a rucksack on her back and revealing her full outfit. She grins broadly and crosses her arms against her chest as she replies to her grandfather.

“Let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I feel bad for making Kazuma go straight to another mission without even having her greet Konohamaru, but oh well. She'll see him during the Chunin Exams Arc.


	4. 3 - A Dangerous Mission! Journey to the Land of Waves! (P.2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Mention of Blood

She knew that while she should have seen her younger brother before setting off on another mission, she hadn’t gotten any action in while traveling back to the village, and she was itching to do something exciting. She still felt guilty however, knowing how much Konohamaru wanted to see her, and she had anticipated their reunion as well.

Kazuma arrived at the gates with the others, and Naruto suddenly turns around with a yell.

“Alright! We’re off!”

“What’re you so excited about?” The pink-haired female on his team questions, and Kazuma realizes that she never got the names of the other two people on Kakashi’s Team 7. Before she could ask them though, Naruto speaks in excitement while .

“You see, I’ve never left the village before!”

“Hey! Am I really okay with this squirt?!” Tazuna points at Naruto, directing his question towards the masked teacher, and his comment on the blonde ninja’s height made the said boy pause in his antics as Kakashi laughed and responded.

“I’m a Jonin. I’ll be watching him. There’s no need to worry, and I’m guessing that you already know that Kazuma here is also a Jonin. With the both of us, there’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“Huh, you got promoted, Kazuma? The last time I saw you, you were just a genin, but then again, that was almost eight years ago.” Tazuna takes a swig of his drink as he was reminiscing, and the other two ninja whose names Kazuma still didn’t know turned to her as well, a bit of disbelief in their eyes.

Naruto then turned around and started shouting angrily at the bridge builder.

“Hey old man! Don’t be mocking ninjas so much! I’m awesome, you see! I’m a super elite ninja who will be called Hokage one day! My name’s Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it well!”

“The Hokage’s the super top-dog ninja in the village, right? You sure as heck don’t seem like you could become the Hokage . . .” Tazuna says in a skeptical tone while holding his drink near his lips.

“Aaah! Shut up! I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to become the Hokage! You’ll have no choice but to acknowledge me then!!” The blonde ninja yells back, and Kazuma just watched the encounter like the others were.

“I’ll never acknowledge you, squirt . . . even if you become the Hokage!” Tazuna just stared at Naruto, who in turn started to approach the man in anger and shouting as Kakashi held the young boy back.

“I told you to stop it, you moron!” Kakashi scolds the boy, who retaliates with a response of his own as Tazuna starts walking away.

“No! At least let me have one shot, just one . . .”

The group starts moving on, but as they were walking, the young Sarutobi felt gazes on her back. She felt a chill go down her spine, and that’s when she knew they were being watched. Kazuma had a thought that maybe she was just being paranoid, but due to the skills and experiences that she went through from traveling and training, she was certain of her instincts.

She noticed that she had slowed down a little bit, so she lightly jogged to catch up to the team, now walking alongside Kakashi. She thought of telling Kakashi, knowing that he would trust her instinct, but she didn’t want to worry him about a mission that was supposed to be a simple escorting. But then again, he might already know they were being followed. She continues moving forward with the team, and then suddenly she remembers something.

“Oh, I never got your names by the way!” She points to the pink-haired girl in the red dress and the black-haired boy in the blue shirt, and they turn their heads towards her.

“I’m Sakura Haruno! It’s nice to meet you! I never knew that the Hokage had a granddaughter.” The young girl points to herself and smiles at Kazuma, but the older female could see something a bit fake in Sakura’s green eyes. Despite that, Kazuma smiles back nonetheless and directs her brown eyes to the other boy on Team 7.

“Sasuke Uchiha.” The dark haired boy only says his name and just stares at Kazuma for a few more moments before looking back straight ahead, and she blinks a few times, not really believing his attitude. She brushes it off though, not wanting to dwell on the behavior of an angsty teen.

 

* * *

 

“Say. . . Tazuna-san?” Sakura begins, an inquiring tone in her voice, and Tazuna grumbles out a reply.

“What is it?”

“Your country is ‘The Land of Waves’, right?”

“What of it?”

“Say, Kakashi-sensei. . .” Kazuma raises her eyebrow at how Sakura didn’t reply back to the old man but was curious about what the pink-haired girl wanted to know.

“Are there ninjas in that land too?” At the question, Kakashi turns his head to face Sakura to give him his full attention.

“No, there aren’t ninjas in the Land of Waves. . . but in other nations, while cultures and customs are different, hidden villages exist, and there are ninjas there. To the many nations on the continent, the existence of Shinobi Villages is a measure of the nation’s military strength. In other words, that is how these nations maintain their relationships with neighboring nations. Even so, the villages are not under the control of the nations. They are equal in rank.

“On a small island like the Land of Waves, where it is difficult to be influenced by other nations, there is no need for a Shinobi Village. Among the respective nations that possess a Shinobi Village, the five nations of ‘Fire’, ‘Water’, ‘Lightning’, ‘Wind’, and ‘Earth’, due to their large territory and immeasurable power, are called the ‘Five Great Nations’ - the Village Hidden in the Leaves of the Land of Fire, the Village Hidden in the Mist of the Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Clouds of the Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Sand of the Land of Wind, and the Village Hidden in the Rocks of the Land of Earth.

“Only the leaders of each of these Hidden Villages are allowed to have the name of Kage, the Shadow - the ‘Hokage’ (Fire Shadow), the ‘Mizukage’ (Water Shadow), the ‘Raikage’ (Lightning Shadow), the ‘Kazekage’ (Wind Shadow), the ‘Tsuchikage’ (Earth Shadow): the so-called Five Kage reign supreme over the tens of thousands of ninjas in each nation of the whole world.” Kakashi gave a whole lesson instead of giving a simple answer to Sakura’s question, but Kazuma guessed that it was for a good reason. Genin need to have simple stuff that like that drilled into their minds or else they would forget it, and she had a feeling that Naruto maybe wasn’t the brightest bunch in the group, despite his ambitions to be Hokage.

“No kidding. . . Lord Hokage is that incredible!” Sakura’s response sounded like it was full of awe for Kazuma’s grandfather, but in a way, it seemed sort of fake to her. Naruto had his arms crossed and a scrunched face after Kakashi’s inquiry about the Kages.

“Hey! You guys just doubted Lord Hokage now, didn’t you. . .?” Kakashi asked, but he already knew the answer from how Naruto and Sakura were acting. Kazuma wanted to burst out in laughter as she thought to herself how these genin are pretty dumb if they think they can get anything by Kakashi.

Naruto and Sakura reverently shook their heads at their instructor’s question, and Kakashi put his hand on Sakura’s head as he spoke.

“Well. . . don’t worry. There are no ninja battles in Rank C missions.” Sakura visibly relaxed at that and gave a reply in earnest at this information, but Kazuma glanced at Tazuna, who seemed to be sweating a little bit more than he should.

“Then, there’s no worry of getting into a scrap with foreign ninjas. . .!”

“Of course not.”

Naruto looked irritated about it, but Sasuke had looked back at that moment with a strange look on his face. Kazuma had guessed that maybe he felt a bit wary at that. The group kept moving along, and they walked across a bridge that was over a small river, crossing over into a place with more trees along the sides of the path they were going on. It was quiet so far, but Kazuma couldn’t help feeling like something was going to happen. She was so lost in that feeling that she almost missed the sight of a puddle ahead of their path. Almost.

She glanced up at Kakashi as they walked past by it, seeing him look at the water as well. He faced straight forward again and directed his gaze down to Kazuma, who was already looking at him with a serious face. They kept walking forward with the others, figuring that they hadn’t noticed the puddle either. Building up some chakra in her body and spreading it through her hands, she got ready for the attack as they kept walking.

Feeling two presences, both Kazuma and Kakashi looked back as two ninjas wrapped up Kakashi with shuriken-laced chains, ripping him apart. Team 7 and Tazuna looked on, mortified as Kakashi’s body parts fell to the ground. Sakura screamed in horror and staggered back, while Naruto stepped forward and called for his teacher in urgency. Suddenly the two ninja appear behind Naruto, and in that instant, he froze in fear.

“The second one. . .” One of the two ninja, whom Kazuma identified were Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist, spoke as they both got their chains ready for Naruto.

Before any damage could be done, Sasuke jumps in the air and throws a shuriken, catching onto the chain and pinning it to a nearby tree. The Kiri-nin looked shocked, and Sasuke then throws a kunai into the center of the shuriken, locking the chain in place. The two enemy ninja try to attack but realize just how secure their weapon was to the tree, and the Uchiha lands on the large hand claws adorned by the Kiri-nin, grabbing each hand and kicking his legs back to them in the face.

The chains detach from the claws, and the two ninja run, one heading towards Naruto and the other towards Tazuna. Sakura, although still for a second, rushed to stand in front of the bridge builder with a kunai in hand, ready to protect the client. Just as the ninjas were about to reach their targets, Kazuma flexes her fingers and quickly does hand seals.

“Swift Wind Wall!” A swirling stream of wind surrounds both Tazuna and Sakura, and Naruto as well, protecting them from the oncoming attacks. Kazuma then summons the chakra she gathered earlier, and streams of chakra shoot out from her fingertips and join together to create two long ropes from each hand. Using the ropes, she wraps them around the two Kiri-nin and slams them together with just a tug of her hands.

There’s a few moments of silence as Kazuma’s wind walls fade away from Tazuna, Sakura, and Naruto with Sasuke off to the side. As they were trying to process what just happened, Kazuma just stands near the two unknown persons with her chakra rope wrapped around them. Then, Kakashi suddenly appears behind Kazuma and places a hand on her shoulder, looking as nonchalant as ever as if he didn’t scar the kids with his “death.”

“Yo.”

While Sakura looked immensely happy that her teacher was alive, Sasuke seemed disgruntled as Naruto was just shocked. He looked back to see what he thought was Kakashi, and on the ground, it was just logs - the typical Substitution Jutsu. Kazuma just sighed with a pout on her face.

“The fact that you made me do all the work is horrible. I just got back, you know.” Kazuma exclaims with an exasperated tone, but in reality, she was happy to finally have some action.

“I know, and I’m glad you haven’t lost your touch. Naruto. . . Sorry I didn’t help you right away. . . I got you hurt. I didn’t think you’d be incapable of moving. . .” Kakashi turned his head towards Naruto as he addressed him, but then walked away after his last statement. Kazuma felt bad, she knew she should have put the wall up sooner! Just as she was about to apologize to Naruto, Tazuna heaved a big sigh of relief, which the young Sarutobi took note of.

“Anyhow, let me just say, good job, Sasuke. You too, Sakura.” The masked man praised the two genin, and as Naruto was getting up, Kazuma noticed the distressed look on the blonde’s face as he realized that he wasn’t able to do anything to help. Kazuma understood his feelings since she has been in the same situation before when it came to her first real battle.

“Hey. . .” Sasuke turned to Naruto.

“Huh?”

“Are you hurt. . . scaredy cat?” Sasuke asked with a smug face, and the fact that he was just rubbing salt into the wound really pissed off Kazuma. Naruto’s facial expression worsened at the insult, and it was obvious he was getting angry as he was balling up his fists.

“Sasuke!”

“Naruto!” Kakashi called out the boy’s name before he could charge, effectively stopping him.

“These guys have poison on their claws. You need to take out the poison quickly.” At that, Naruto seemed to panic and looked at his hand in worry as Kakashi continued his warning.

“You have to open the wound and drain the poisoned blood. Don’t move so much. The poison will spread.” Then without missing a beat or turning around, Kakashi addressed the client of the mission.

“By the way, Tazuna-san. . .” The bridge builder moved his body to face Kakashi as he nervously asked ‘What is it?’

“I have something to talk to you about.”

 

* * *

 

Kazuma tied up the Kiri-nin to a tree with some regular rope, and everyone from the group stood around them at least a meter away as Kakashi began to speak.

“Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. . . these guys are ninjas known for continuing to fight no matter what the sacrifice.”

“How were you able to detect our movements?” One of the ninjas spoke, his voice muffled by the gas mask he worse, but his speech was still understandable.

“It hasn’t rained for days, so why would there be a puddle in the middle of a path on a bright day out like this?” Kazuma spoke up, being the first one to have noticed it, and Kakashi nodded his head in confirmation.

“Knowing that, why’d you leave it to the kids to fight?” Tazuna asked Kakashi, skeptical of the masked man’s methods.

“If I felt like it, I could kill these guys instantly. . . but. . . I had to know. . . who the target of these enemies was. . .” Kakashi’s dark grey eyes narrowed, and to Kazuma, they seemed to go black at that moment. Tazuna seemed to be pretending not to know anything about what Kakashi was implying.

“Hm?! What do you mean?”

“In other words. . . what I mean is I had to know if it was you, or one of us Shinobi. . . who was being targeted. We haven’t heard anything about you being targeted by ninjas.” Kakashi glanced at Kazuma for a quick second when he said that but immediately reverted his gaze back to Tazuna. Kazuma wasn’t sure which part of his statement he was referring to with her, but technically, she applies to both situations.

“The content of the request was supposed to just be protection from gangs, thieves, and the like. . . this is a mission with a B-Rank or higher. The request was supposed to be for backup protection until you finished building your bridge. . .” Tazuna looked down, and Kazuma wasn’t sure if what the old man was feeling. Maybe guilt? Regret?

“If our enemies were to be ninjas, the mission would’ve been estimated without question an as expensive ‘B-Rank’ mission. It appears there’s some kind of good reason for this, but being lied to in the request won’t do. This is beyond the scope of our mission.” Kakashi finished it out, and Sakura started speaking with some thoughts of her own.

“This mission is too soon for us. . . let’s give it up!” While Kazuma knew that Sakura had a good point about the stakes for this mission, it seemed that the girl was way too eager to leave it all. However, Tazuna shouldn’t have lied in the first place.

“We need an anesthetic to open Naruto’s wound and get out the poisoned blood. . . we have to return to the village and take him to a doctor. . .” Another good point brought up.

Kakashi hums in agreement as he looks toward the blonde ninja who just keeps looking at his hand before looking to his teacher in question.

“This sure is a burden! Since we need to treat Naruto’s wound, shall we go back to the village. . .?” Kakashi looks off as his eyebrows go down in what seemed to be a troubled look, but the tone seemed a bit weird to Kazuma.

She saw Naruto’s face become angry, and just as Kakashi looked back to the said boy, the blonde pulls out a kunai and stabs his wounded hand. Blood spurts out the wound, and everyone just looked astonished at the genin’s actions. Kazuma knew the kid was stupid, but she didn’t think he was this insane. Naruto turns away from the others, and Sakura steps forward, questioning the boy loudly.

“Naruto! What’re you doing?!”

“I’m going to swear on the pain of my left hand! I’ll protect you, old man. . . with this kunai knife!!” He turns back around to the the the group, still holding to the kunai to his wound, and he smirks with a small laugh. Kazuma thought he looked pretty cool during that moment, even if he basically dug a weapon into his hand for the sake of promising to himself that he would become strong.

“The mission continues!!”

“Naruto. . . it’s all well and good to rid yourself of the poisoned blood, but any more than that, and you’ll bleed to death.” Kakashi states a fact to the young boy, and a silence falls as he lets it all sink in, Kazuma trying to hold in her laughter at the situation the boy put himself in.

He starts turning blue and profusely sweating at the idea, his hand shaking as he begins to whimper. Kakashi goes to crouch next to him and smiles under his mask.

“Things will get hairy if you don’t stop the bleeding quick. . . seriously!”

Naruto panics, moving side to side like a crab while waving his arms like a madman, and the young Sarutobi bursts out in laughter, unable to hold it in any longer.

“Argh! No! No! I can’t die like this, I say!” Sakura steps forward next to Kakashi with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face.

“Show me your hand. Kazuma, come over here. I know you know some healing techniques.” He calls over the laughing girl to help out with the boy, and she comes over while wiping the tears that slid down her face from laughing so hard.

“Nooo! Help me!!” Naruto places his injured left hand in Kakashi’s outstretched one as Sakura begins scolding her fellow teammate.

“Naruto! You’re really self-abusive, aren’t you! That’s masochistic!”

Kakashi and Kazuma take a look at Naruto’s hand, and just as the girl is about to create a chakra orb, she sees his wound already starting to heal. She glances to her older companion, and from the wide eyes on his face, she knows that he sees it too. Both are quiet for a moment, and they are brought out of their thoughts by Naruto’s worried voice.

“Um, um, am I okay? You guys look awfully serious. . .”

Kazuma takes out a roll of bandages and hands it to Kakashi who starts wrapping up the boy’s hand, despite him not actually needing it.

“You’ll be fine, don’t worry, Uzumaki-san.” Kazuma reassures him, and Kakashi backs her up.

“You should be okay.” Kakashi stands up from his crouched position and lays a hand on Kazuma’s shoulder, and she looks up at him from under her hat.

“I never got to say earlier, but good job, Kazuma.” She smiles at the compliment, but she suddenly remembers the two that were still tied up to the tree. She walks over to the two before Kakashi could stop her and crouches down to meet their eye level.

“Hey, you two are the Demon Brothers, right? Gozu and Meizu?” The two Kiri-nin glared at the young girl as she asked them, and she could also feel the stares from the others in her group on her back.

“You know these two, Kazuma?” Kakashi asks her, and she nods.

Kazuma tilts her hat all the way, removing it from the top of her head to reveal all her curly brown hair and her face to the two Kiri-nin. She smiles, though there was no sincerity in it.

“Yup, I heard about them as I traveled through Kirigakure. Kakashi, why don’t you go ahead with the others? I’ll catch up with you guys soon.” There were a few moments of silence before they began to leave, but not before the grey-haired Jonin told Kazuma to be careful. Once they were a distance enough away, the young Sarutobi began speaking again.

“Let me just say that you guys certainly have a reputation there in your old village. . . but I can see that you obviously don’t live up to it.” Her eyes go dead, and the two shiver at the sight and tone of her cold voice. It wasn’t like them to be fearful of a kunoichi who was significantly younger than them, but there was something about her demeanor that unsettled them.

Her comment angered them though, and they move forward, their faces just a few inches away from Kazuma’s. Despite not lifting her hands or anything, the two men are forced back into the tree by a strong force, and looking to the girl, they can see her brown eyes glowing something blue. They both knew she was doing something to them, they just didn’t know what exactly. All they knew was that as they were being pushed back into the tree, it felt like someone was choking them, and they were quickly losing oxygen. Before the two brother passed out, she said a final statement that would make them shudder at just the the thought of her.

“Better be glad I don’t kill you both right here, right now, but if you ever cross us again, I will rip you apart right where you stand.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oooh, what's this power Kazuma has? What's the blue in her eyes? Honestly though, the paragraphs that I wrote where she talked to the Demon Brothers and the blue in her eyes reminded me of Sans from Undertale. Long chapter this time, so I hope you guys like it!


	5. 4 - Assassin of the Mist!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Mention of Blood

When Kazuma caught up to the group, she was given some suspicious side glances, and while what happened back with the Demon Brothers would warrant some of that, she also felt that they needed to mind their own business. If any one of them had to know though, it would Kakashi and Tazuna, not some genin that she just met. Now the group was on a boat towards the Land of Waves, and the trip was more foggy and ominous than Kazuma remembered.

“This is quite some fog. I can’t see ahead.” Sakura stated, looking around with concern on her face.

Kazuma nodded in agreement, although she was sure that the other girl didn’t notice it. She looked to the others on the boat. Sasuke was as stoic as ever, and while she couldn’t see Naruto’s face since he was facing the water at the front of the boat, she could tell that it was for the boy to not speak at his usual loud volume. Kakashi just looked on, and Tazuna was looking down at his lap.

“The bridge should be visible soon. When we reach the side of the bridge, we’ll be in the Land of the Waves.” The boatman said in a soft tone that was still loud enough for everyone to hear.

At his statement, everyone looked up to see the bridge. Despite how hard it was to see anything with the fog, the structure was massive and looked quite impressive. As everyone admired the sight in silence, one person felt the need to voice this out.

“Woow! It’s huge!” Naruto yelled out in excitement, and the boatman was quick to try and silence the young ninja.

“H-Hey! Please keep it down. I took this boat out under cover of fog, and I cut the engine and am rowing by hand. If they find us, we’ll be in deep trouble.” The idea of getting in trouble quickly shut up Naruto, and the rest of Team 7 looked a bit freaked out at the new information.

“Tazuna-san. I want to ask you something before we arrive at the pier. The identity of your assailants was provided by Kazuma a bit earlier, but we still don’t know the reason why they are after you. If you don’t tell us . . . our mission may end when you make landfall.” Kakashi called out the bridge builder, and Kazuma could tell that there was no way out of this for Tazuna.

“It appears I have no choice but to tell you. Frankly, I’d like you to listen. Just as you said, this may be beyond the scope of your mission. Actually, I am being targeted by a terrifying man.” Kazuma knew exactly who Tazuna was talking about, after all she knew all the ins and outs when it came to “dirty” organizations.

“A terrifying man? Who?” Kakashi had a serious look, and the young Sarutobi couldn’t help but feel it was a small refresher to her since the elder Jounin was usually so laid-back.

“You guys have probably heard at least his name before. A shipping magnate by the name of Gato.” The name Gato made the one-eyed leader surprised, and Kazuma clenched her fists at his name.

“What? Gato . . . of the Gato Company? One of the world’s richest men?”

“Who? What?” Naruto was quite oblivious to the true significance of the name, and as Tazuna was about to explain who Gato really was, Kazuma picked it up with malice in her voice.

“Gato . . . he may be the chief executive of a shipping company, but in reality, he’s into drug trafficking and deals in contraband using gangs and Ninjas. He takes over nations and enterprises mercilessly, as if it’s a damn hobby.” The bridge builder nods in response to her words, and he continued without a beat in between despite the shocked looks on everyone else’s faces at Kazuma’s angered state.

“It was about one year ago . . . when that man first set his eyes on the Land of the Waves . . . he used his wealth and violence to enter this country, and before anyone knew it, he had taken complete control of the island’s maritime transportation and shipping. Having a tight grip on the ocean, in an island nation like the Land of the Waves means having control of finance, the government, the people . . . everything. The one thing Gato fears . . . is the completion of the bridge . . . that has been under construction for some time now.” At the end of his explanation, Tazuna looked up at his bridge as silence fell over the group.

“I see. Since you’re the one building the bridge, you’ve become a hindrance.” Sakura makes a conclusion, her hand up to her face and cupping her chin with a concentrated expression.

“Then, those ninjas from before were Gato’s men . . . ?” Sasuke asks out loud, his thoughts trying to piece themselves together.

Naruto raises a finger up to his noggin, and it was as obvious as day that Naruto didn’t really follow what was going on. Oh, poor boy.

“But I don’t understand. Your opponent is a dangerous one, who will even use ninja. Why did you hide that fact from us when you made your request?” Kakashi had a point in his question, but Kazuma already knew the answer to this question.

“The Land of the Waves . . . is a very poor nation, and even feudal lords have no money. Of course, we ordinary citizens have no money either. We cannot afford to make requests of Rank B or higher . . . well, if you pull out of the mission when I land ashore, I will, no doubt, be killed. Killed sometime before I make it home, but there’s no need for concern! Should I die, my cute grandchild who will turn eight . . . will only cry his heart out!” Tazuna gave Kakashi a response and a bit more as the bridge builder began to try and guilt trip the group, and of course, Kazuma sighed and facepalmed silently.

“And . . . my daughter will only blame the Hidden Leaves Ninja for the rest of her life and grieve in solitude! Oh it’s not your fault at all!” Kazuma could see from the faces of the others that they knew what Tazuna was doing. Kakashi scratched his headband in contemplation before turning to the bridge builder with a sheepish look on his face.

“Well . . . I guess we have no choice. Let’s continue as his bodyguards.”

“Oh! I am most grateful!” Tazuna exclaimed with obvious fake enthusiasm.

“You’re really pushing it, old man.” Kazuma muttered quietly over to Tazuna, and he just grinned at her with a smug expression that was saying ‘I won.’ She couldn’t help but laugh internally at his behavior.

“We’ll be arriving soon. Tazuna, it appears we haven’t been noticed up until this point . . .” The boatman got the attention of the group before directly addressing Tazuna who thanked the man for delivering them across the water.

The boat was heading towards a tunnel, and the group faced forward in anticipation for what was on the other side. Kazuma couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic at the idea of coming back to the Land of the Waves, the first place that she visited on her 7.5 year journey. Like Tazuna said, the nation was poor, but that didn’t mean she didn’t love it any less.

Once they arrived to the other side of the tunnel, they were all greeted with the sight of trees growing out of the water, houses on top of the water held up by platforms, and blue sky with fluffy clouds. This was the sight that Kazuma missed. It was a refreshing scene to see, apart from the dreary, grey that they were engulfed in before. She could see Naruto’s amazed face at the view, and she was glad that someone shared the same sentiments as her. The boatman stopped at a platform, and the group got off.

“This is as far as I go. See you around.” The man exclaimed this to the group before they left.

“Yeah. You’ve been a big help.” Tazuna replied to him, and the man leaves with a ‘Be careful’ to the bunch, finally turning on his motor for a quick getaway. Before he got too far however, Kazuma called out to him and tossed a small bag into his boat. It clinked as it hit, and she turned away before he could say something. The others looked confused as to what she did, wondering what was in the bag.

“Something to thank him for his troubles.” The young Sarutobi shrugged her shoulders, as if what just happened was an everyday occurrence. She then clapped her hands loudly, startling the group a bit before grinning.

“Now, let’s get Tazuna home safely, shall we?” They continued on, Tazuna and Kazuma chatting in the back as the rest were at the front.

“So, Inari’s about to turn eight now, huh? Last time I saw him, he was only five months old! How time flies by.” The curly-haired female almost couldn’t believe it, but then again, she still couldn’t believe that she willingly went on another mission without even greeting her baby brother after not seeing him for almost eight years.

“Yeah, and I can’t believe you’re a Jonin. Who would’ve thought that a brat like you is actually a good ninja?” Tazuna took a swig of his drink as he lightheartedly jabbed at Kazuma.

“When did you become a Jonin, Kazuma?” Kazuma turned her attention towards Kakashi who asked the sudden question but nonetheless answered him.

“Well, I was a genin for the first year of my mission, then I took the Chunin Exams and got promoted at age 10. I stayed that rank for three years and then took the Jonin Exams at 13. So, I would say about three and half years ago.” She counted it off, not noticing the disbelief in the young genins’ faces.

“Hm . . .” The silver-haired Jonin hummed, and her response seemed to put him in some deep thought. Kazuma has known Kakashi far longer than the others, so she could probably guess that he was thinking about the next attack. The Demon Brothers were Chunin, so it’s definite that the next opponent is going to be a Jonin. As far as who it could be, Kazuma had many names in her head pop up, and she wondered if any of them would be it. If so, Kakashi and her had to watch out for the others.

Silence fell over the group as they walked along the forest path, and while the brown-haired kunoichi usually liked to fill the quiet with some soft chatter, she decided to just relax and let the sounds of nature ring. Her long mission consisted of long periods of just walking through nature, so despite her slight feelings of restlessness at the moment, she’s gotten used to the atmosphere of just herself and the world around her. However, one particular ninja felt that it was the time to show off some of his skills.

Naruto ran ahead of the group and stopped, looking around with suspicion. All of sudden, he looked to his right and threw a kunai.

“There!”

The others were surprised, and Kazuma would have thought the kid was good had he actually found a sufficient enemy in the bush. Better safe than sorry I guess.

“Heh . . . just a mouse.”  The blond boy tried to seem cool, but in reality, he caused a disturbance and rose tension in the group’s former peace. Sakura and Tazuna were furious to say the least, Kakashi was just upset, and Sasuke kept a look that radiated annoyance.

“Quit trying to show off! There was nothing there in the first place!” The pink-haired genin acted as if she was scolding a child, but really, she wasn’t far off.

“Please, Naruto. Don’t use kunai knives recklessly. They’re dangerous.” The older Jonin pleaded to the boy.

“Hey brat! Don’t be doing anything confusing!” The bridge builder raged, but all these words fell on deaf ears as Naruto continued his endeavors to find an enemy.

From what Kazuma has seen and heard so far, the orange-clad boy liked to stir up trouble, not using his head for much things, but she figured that there was something more to it. Sakura said for him to quit showing off, but Naruto was unable to get in on any of the action earlier with the Demon Brothers, instead getting injured. Kazuma thinks that perhaps he just wanted to make up for that this time around, but his efforts were fruitless so far.

“Huh? I sense a presence there! No, over here?!” The boy continued looking about in places where there was nothing but trees, grass, and shadows.

Suddenly, Kazuma tensed up, realizing that there was something here, and from how Kakashi looked back, she knew that he sensed it too. Naruto threw another kunai into a bush, but Sakura promptly hit him for it.

“Stop it, already!” The boy held his head, in pain from the hit of his teammate.

“S-Someone’s really been targeting us the whole time!”

“Yeah, right! Knock it off, you!”

Kakashi walked through the bush that Naruto threw his kunai in, deciding to inspect it, and he found a crying white bunny with the kunai just a few inches above its head and in between its ears. The rest walked over to see what he found, and Sakura was quick to flare out at the blond for almost killing an innocent animal.

“Naruto! What have you done?!”

“It’s a bunny!” The boy flew over to the scarred creature, upset and worried for it, and began to hug and apologize to it, rubbing his whiskered cheek against the bunny’s furry face. The sight of it was quite cute, but Kazuma’s thoughts were elsewhere as she noticed the color of the animal - pure white. She’s only seen snow rabbits when it was winter and snowing. The few times that she did see one out of season was when it was being raised indoors, for either domesticity or substitution.

Kazuma flexed her fingers and gathered chakra into her fingers, getting ready for the attack. They were already here. There was something familiar about the presence she felt, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. The two Jonin feel something coming.

“Everyone, get down!” Kakashi caught the group’s attention as a large sword was spinning in the air towards them. Kazuma quickly wrapped her chakra ropes around the others’ wrists and pulled them down to the ground, just missing the weapon by a hair.

Everyone got up from the ground, Kazuma’s ropes dissipating after the initial attack was finished with. The sword was now stuck up high on a tree, a shirtless black-haired man with striped pants, matching wrist and leg warmers, and bandages for a mask standing on the handle. Looking at the man now, the young Sarutobi wondered why she didn’t figure it out earlier.

“Zabuza . . .” She muttered under her breath the name of the assailant, not noticing that Sasuke and Kakashi heard her, but before anything else could be done, Kakashi walked over to the man.

“Well, well, if isn’t the Rogue Ninja of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza!” The silver-haired man spoke, and Kazuma could see from Naruto’s face that he didn’t know what the hell his teacher was talking about. The boy started to run forward, wanting to attack, but he was pulled back with his bag by Kazuma.

“Don’t, Uzumaki-san. You’ll only get in the way.” She pulled him in further back till he was behind her.

“Kazuma’s right. Get back, you guys.” Kakashi backed up Kazuma, knowing fully well that this opponent would be far more difficult than the previous.

“Why?!” Naruto yelled out in question, not understanding why he wasn’t being allowed to fight.

“He’s on a totally different level from the guys from the other day.” After he said this, Kakashi goes to lift his headband to reveal his left eye, causing everyone besides Kazuma to look in wonder and anticipation. Kazuma just looked at him, not sure how to feel about him using it so soon but figured that he wouldn’t use it unless he absolutely had to.

“I assume you are Kakashi, the Sharingan user . . .” Zabuza started talking, gazing down at the ninja with cold dark brown eyes. The curly-haired female heard a small grunt behind, and she glanced towards Sasuke who was intensely staring at Kakashi. She couldn’t blame him though; Kakashi wasn’t an Uchiha, so how did he have the kekkei genkai of the clan?

Zabuza then shifted his gaze over to Kazuma, and the shadow of her hat over her narrowing eyes made her own glare seem that much more menacing.

“. . . and Tsubasa, long time no see.” The tension that was already in the air increased, and Kazuma could already feel the stares on her back, knowing that they must be confused as to how this person knew her and why he called her something that they knew wasn’t her name.

“Sorry, but . . . I’ll have you hand over the old man.” The rogue said, but he obviously wasn't sincere about his apology.

“Get in the Manji battle formation, you guys. Protect Tazuna-san . . . don’t involve yourselves in the fight. That’s the teamwork in this situation, and Kazuma . . .” The elder Jonin addressed his team before directly speaking to the younger kunoichi, who waited for his order. Despite both of them being the same rank, this was still Team 7’s mission, and she was just a tag-along. She knew that she had to follow what he says.

“Stay back and join the formation. If need be, give them direction as you see fit. Protect them. I’ll handle this.” While she felt that it was unfair that she wasn’t going to be helping him, she knew that Kakashi could handle himself, so she nodded in acceptance of the orders. Kakashi then pulled up his headband all the way, revealing a long vertical scar over the eye. Upon opening, the eye was a blood red, the pupil surrounded by a black ring that had three shapes that looked like commas - the typical look of Sharingan when in full maturation.

“Fight me.” With his eye now fully revealed, the Jonin was ready to take on the rogue.

“Well now . . . I never expected to see the rumored Sharingan this soon . . . this is an honor.” Zabuza was now facing the group but was still standing up high on his sword’s handle.

“Everyone’s been saying Sharingan . . . what is it?!” Naruto questions out loud, having enough of hearing the word without actually knowing what it was, and while his question was directed towards his leader, Sasuke answers instead.

“. . . Sharingan. Power that the light of the eyes generates, and the pupil emanates. The user of the so-called Visual Jutsu (Art) is said to possess the vision to see through all Genjutsu (Illusionary Art), Taijutsu (Physical Art), and Ninjutsu (Ninja Art), and is able to deflect them. The Sharingan is a type of eye that is unique to the user of the Visual Art. However, that is not the only power of the Sharingan.” The explanation was simple and to the point, and Kazuma hoped that Naruto understood it.

“Well said. That is not all. What’s more frightening is that such an eye can assess an opponent’s techniques and copy them.” Zabuza continued the lecture as a dense mist started spreading all over the place.

“When I was in the Anbu Black Ops of the Hidden Mist, search information about you was in the Bingo Book I would carry with me. There was also something else in the book . . . about the man who has copied over one thousand skills . . . Kakashi, the Copy Ninja.” The two elite male Jonin stared each other down as the group looked on in amazement at their teacher.

“W-Wow!” Naruto exclaimed in awe, and had the situation they were all in not be so serious, she would have giggled at how easily amused the boy was. She then looked over to the one boy who she knew was not so happy about this revelation. Sasuke continued to look at the man as questions filled his mind about who his teacher really was.

“Of course, I won’t disinclude you from this, Tsubasa . . . after all, you’re in the Bingo Book too.” Kazuma stayed silent at Zabuza’s statement, but she saw Kakashi give a quick glance to her. She knew that she’d get an interrogation later.

“Who would’ve thought that a kid like you would make a name for themself so young?”

“Like you’re one to talk, Zabuza.” Not even a moment was spared as she quipped back at the man, and he looked almost amused, as if waiting for her to speak.

“Too bad you’ve been ordered not to fight me . . . I was hoping I’d be able to leave some scars on you this time around . . .” She could feel shivers go down her spine, but she wasn’t about to let him get to her. She had her own task to deal with.

“But let’s end the talking here. I must kill that old man immediately.” Tazuna’s face fell, his glasses slipping a bit as his mouth opened in shock. Kazuma and the genin quickly fell into formation around the bridge builder with their kunais: Sasuke on the right of Tazuna, Kazuma at the front, Naruto on the left, and Sakura in the back. They were not going to let Zabuza get to him.

“But, Kakashi, it seems I have to defeat you first.” The rogue swiftly pulled his sword out of the tree and vanished in what seemed like thin air until they looked over to the body of water near them.

“Over there!” Naruto pointed out.

“And he’s even on the water?” Sakura was astonished, wondering how he is standing on the water like that.

The water around Zabuza’s feet was circling under him and going up, transforming into mist as he stood in the center of it with his right hand near his mouth and his left hand straight up in the air. Traveling through Kirigakure, the land where Zabuza originates, Kazuma knows that this technique is the Hidden Mist Jutsu, a specialty used by the Kiri-nin to go in and out of sight. With how thick the fog was becoming around him, she knew that he was using quite a lot of chakra. Letting out a breath, she spread out her chakra throughout her body and gathered it in different places, getting ready just in case.

“Ninja Art, Hidden Mist Jutsu.” The mist engulfed him, and he vanished as a lone tree leaf fell down and landed on top of the water where Zabuza used to be.

“He’s vanished?!” Naruto and the others stared in bewilderment, and Kakashi was walking forward towards the lake when Sakura called out to him.

“He’ll probably come to erase me first . . .” The silver-haired Jonin stated.

“What is he?” Sakura asks the question that lingered on her teammates’ minds as well as Tazuna’s.

“Kazuma, you seem to know him better than I do. Why don’t you explain?” There was something strange in Kakashi’s tone as he called her out, but she answered nonetheless.

“Momochi Zabuza is an Anbu Black Ops member of the Hidden Mist, and he’s well-known for his ‘silent killing’ technique.”

“S-Silent?” Kazuma could practically feel the nerves in Naruto’s voice as he asked.

“As the name suggests, it’s a killing skill that’s implemented in an instant in silence. Before you know it, you’re probably already in the afterlife. Zabuza has been ruthless since he was a genin. He won’t hesitate just because you’re a kid, so be sharp.” She gripped her kunai tightly as she said this, knowing from experience how cruel the guy could be.

“That’s correct. I haven’t totally mastered the use of my Sharingan, so don’t lower your guard, you guys.” Naruto and Sakura looked mortified at this, and despite Sasuke’s face of lasting indifference, Kazuma could sense that he tensed up. Of course, Kakashi had to continue being him even with the current circumstances.

“Well, if we fail, we’ll only die.”

“How can you be so carefree?!” Sakura scolded the man, not liking his attitude, and the older kunoichi almost laughed out loud.

“Really, Kakashi? Is now really the best time to be saying that? They’re already scared enough, you know.” Kazuma questioned the male, and he just shrugged his shoulders in response.

“The mist is steadily getting thicker!” Naruto exclaims as he looks around.

“The Land of the Waves is surrounded by ocean, so mist rises very easily.” Tazuna quickly explained this to the young boy.

The mist kept getting thicker and thicker, and eventually, the group couldn’t see Kakashi anymore. It was silent, but as the seconds passed, the air kept getting heavier with fog and unstable emotions. Kazuma could feel Zabuza’s presence, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly where he was. She lets out a small sigh but immediately tensed at the sound of the rogue’s voice.

“Eight points.” His voice echoed all over, almost sounding otherworldly.

“Huh? What?” Sakura gasped out, though Kazuma wasn’t sure if it was out of surprise or fear for what he was talking about. Maybe it was both.

“The larynx, the spine, the lungs, the liver . . . the jugular and the subclavian veins, the kidneys, the heart. Now then, which vulnerable spot would be good?” Now knowing that the man was pondering which place to cut through, everyone was in suspense. You could just feel the bloodlust in the air.

Suddenly, Kakashi did a jutsu, chakra expelling from him and creating a wind force that blasted the mist surrounding the area and allowing for everyone to now see clearly. Despite this however, Sasuke didn’t feel any relief from it and was instead reacting to the tension in the air that Kazuma sensed from before. From the corner of her dark eyes, she could see the young stoic boy now shaking like a leaf. He had to settle down, or it’ll affect him worse later.

“Uchiha-san, don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll protect all of you, even if it costs me my life.” She caught the boy’s attention as he gripped his kunai, and he looked at her with his onyx eyes wide in disbelief from her words. She wasn’t that much older from him, so how is she so calm?

“Sasuke. I’ll protect you with my life as well. Kazuma and I will not allow our comrades to die.” Kakashi spoke and looked back at the young genin with what seemed like a smile on his face, but he couldn’t tell because of the mask. Naruto and Sakura were shocked as they heard the conversation, unsure of what to say.

“I wonder about that . . .” In that moment, the rogue appeared in the center of the formation, holding his sword behind his back while his right hand was near his mouth.

“It’s over.” Zabuza looked up, meeting the eyes of Kakashi who turned around to see the scene. Thanks to her early preparation, Kazuma forced the genin and Tazuna away from the man with her chakra, much like Kakashi did before with the mist. She jumped away just as Zabuza was about to swing his weapon, getting out of the path of the silver-haired Jonin who then pierced the rogue through the abdomen.

Everyone stared at the sight, but instead of blood pouring out of the wound, it was water. Naruto pointed behind Kakashi, noticing the figure about to close in on his teacher.

“Sensei! Behind you!” The Jonin looked back, eyes widening.

“Die!” Zabuza swung, the weapon easily cutting Kakashi in half. Kazuma almost closed her eyes at the sight, not liking the idea of witnessing her friend die, but she knew that it was a ruse. The rouge smiled behind his bandage mask until he noticed that the supposed sliced up body was actually water.

“Don’t move.” Kakashi was now behind Zabuza, the tip of his kunai at the man’s neck. Everyone gawked at the scene in front of them, and had the circumstances not been how they were, Kazuma was certain she would be shouting to the rooftops how cool the elder Jonin was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter took forever. Sorry for the wait. I'm using the english subbed version of the Naruto series instead of the english dub, so it's basically me having to pause and rewind every so often to get the correct lines. This chapter is over 4,000 words, an amount that I didn't expect but honestly, it makes sense with how much I'm sort of putting into this. I'm just making sure that the episode fits into one chapter and that's including adding the stuff about Kazuma. By the way, in the chapter you now know a bit more about her. Her and Zabuza fought! But why? Who knows? Does she know Haku too? What was the tone in Kakashi's voice when he called her out? Stay tuned!

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Kazuma went on a  7.5 year journey around the shinobi nations at the age of 9 (Konohamaru was 1); story starts when Kazuma comes back after the mission
> 
> A/N 2: This is my first published Naruto story, and I hope you guys will like it. If you have any feedback for me, please give them respectfully, thank you. 


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